The Cost of Sight
by sunrow
Summary: Natalie Harper is well-read, well-traveled, and going blind. When she runs into her old friend Foggy and is introduced to Matt, he teaches her everything she needs to know about living without sight. But someone else has their own plans for Natalie… Very different plans. Set between seasons 1&2. Eventual Matt/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I never thought I'd be obsessed with Daredevil enough to end up writing fanfiction for it… and yet here I am! My OC, Natalie, looks like Phoebe Tonkin if you want a faceclaim. She's also in the cover photo.**

 **Matt's Daredevil costume is the black one with the blindfold mask. Idk, but I like this outfit more than his official one. Kudos to Ashevillain for the idea, as she used it in her own kickass Daredevil fic. It's called** What They Wouldn't Do **, and it's actually amazing. So you should definitely read it if you haven't already.**

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 **01**

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It was early spring, but the morning air was so cold it might as well have been the middle of winter all over again. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I was still freezing. I huddled into my knit sweater, wishing that I'd thought to bring a coat, but also thankful I'd decided to wear jeans instead of a skirt.

If only my favorite café wasn't so damn far away. I always tried to walk everywhere and not rely on cabs, but wasn't walking supposed to warm you up? Because right now it wasn't. I kept my head down, quickly skirting through the morning crowd of people heading to work, when I collided with somebody.

"What the…?" Startled, I stumbled back a little so I wouldn't fall on my ass. Brushing the hair out of my face, I collected myself and looked around. There was a guy around my age, with a round face and chin-length blonde hair, staring down at me like I was some oddity.

Well, I should say staring _up_ at me, because even in my flat shoes, I was still a good inch or two taller than him.

"I'm so sorry," I blurted out. I figured he was waiting for an apology, seeing as I'd ran into him and all. It _was_ my fault. My eyesight was terrible even with glasses, so I really did have to watch where I was going more carefully. "I wasn't paying attention. Sorry."

The guy stared at me some more. "No, it's okay. But, uh, do I know you?" He squinted at me, trying to figure it out.

Now that he mentioned it, the guy did look quite familiar. We stood standing there for a few more moments, before I realized who I was looking at. The blonde hair was more than familiar, once I thought about it.

"Shit, no way!" I grinned madly. Was this actually happening right now? "Foggy?"

Foggy squinted at me some more, before recognition lit up his eyes. "Natalie Harper! Wow, you look so different."

"I do?"

"Yeah, your hair is brown." Foggy pointed out. "And you're wearing glasses!"

I laughed. "You're so behind. I haven't been blonde since high school, and I've had these glasses for years."

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Foggy said. "You were only a junior when I left for college."

"Okay, you got me there. But hey, you got a haircut since I last saw you. Those precious blonde locks are gone!" I smirked. Glancing at his attire, I took note of the nice suit he wore. I pointed to it and raised my eyebrows. "I take it you're not a butcher, then."

A proud grin made its way onto Foggy's face. "Not working at dad's hardware store, either. I'm a lawyer." He looked at the watch on his wrist. "And I should've been at work ten minutes ago."

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry for holding you up."

Foggy shrugged. "Nah, it's fine. I don't think we have any clients until later in the day anyway. Do you wanna come see my office? We have coffee, so we can continue this there."

I grinned. "I was just heading to get coffee anyway. And if it's free… well, I'm down." Other than getting coffee, I was pretty sure I had nothing else planned. That was the best part of being self-employed.

"Let's go then." Foggy grinned. We walked side by side down the street, me paying more attention to where I was going this time. Foggy looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning to me. "Hopefully Matt's there, though sometimes he comes in late."

"Matt?" I asked, curious to who it was. We entered a building and began ascending the stairs.

"He's my best friend and co-founder of Nelson and Murdock." Foggy grinned, spreading his arm out in front of him. "Attorney's at law!"

Laughing, I shook my head at what was typical Foggy behavior. He could've looked completely different, but I'd recognize his personality anywhere. That was why we'd been friends during high school in the first place. At least, it was _one_ of the reasons.

"Is it just you two there?" I asked, realizing too late it was probably a rude question.

Foggy didn't seem to mind, though. "Just us and our receptionist, Karen. She's probably there already. I swear she doesn't go home some nights."

"She must really love her job." I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, she works for the greatest lawyers in Hell's Kitchen." Foggy smirked, before stopping in front of a door. On the frosted glass window of the door there was a sign declaring this to be Nelson & Murdock.

"Oh, fancy." I glanced at Foggy, noticing his proud look once again.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "We just got it printed."

When we entered the room, I was welcomed by the strong scent of coffee and the sight of a pretty blonde woman sitting at a desk directly across from us. Her hair was down and her makeup kept natural, and she wore a long-sleeved blouse that tied up in a bow at the collar.

"Morning, Foggy," the woman, who I assumed to be Karen, said. Her eyes widened when she saw me. "Oh, who's this?"

A brunette man emerged from a room to the left, and I immediately noticed his dark sunglasses and the walking stick in his hand. He had a lopsided grin on his face. "Yeah, Foggy, are you going to be polite and introduce us, or just stand there?"

I laughed, while Foggy gaped at the man. "We literally just got here!"

"I'm Natalie," I introduced myself before he could. "Foggy and I were friends in high school."

"Oh, that's so cool. I'm Karen," the blonde woman got up from her desk and shook my hand in greeting. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I smiled. Karen seemed nice enough.

The brunette man stuck his hand out. "Matt Murdock."

"Ah, Foggy's partner in crime." I shook his hand as well. Up close, it was easy to see how attractive he was. I was curious about his blindness as well, but figured it would be rude to ask about it just after we met.

"Okay, now that that's done, coffee!" Foggy rubbed his hands together, turning left to head down to where I saw a coffee pot sitting on the bench in the small office kitchen.

Karen grimaced. "I just made a pot."

Foggy stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face me. He looked like someone had just kicked a puppy. "Sorry Nat, but if you don't want your taste buds to die, then don't drink Karen's coffee."

My mouth fell open and I let out a shocked giggle. I can't believe he actually said that. "Foggy! That's so mean."

But when Karen laughed too, I relaxed. "It's no secret he hates my coffee. But Matt thinks it's fine." She shrugged.

"Okay, I'll try it." I stared pointedly at Foggy as I passed, and poured myself a cup. As I looked for the creamer, I couldn't help but notice how awfully quiet it was all of a sudden. That was suspicious. "No, Foggy and I never dated. He was after my friend Kate. And no, they never dated either."

Finished with making my coffee, I turned to see Matt and Karen smirking, while Foggy appeared forlorn. "Really, Nat? We haven't seen each other in ten years and this is how we reunite?"

"That's what you get for calling me Nat." I shrugged, but couldn't hold a straight face for very long. I sipped at my coffee, and found that while it was strong, it didn't taste too bad with the creamer. "Foggy, this coffee is good. I don't know what you were going on about."

He looked disgusted. "You all have horrible taste!"

I rolled my eyes, and decided to take a seat on one of the chairs near the front door. I guess it was some sort of waiting area for when they were busy.

"So, Natalie, what do you do?" Matt asked me. He was still standing near the door to his office, but was leaning on his walking stick casually.

Taking another sip of coffee, I turned to face him. It might have been pointless, but just because he was blind didn't mean I was going to be impolite. "I'm a writer. But, uh, self-published. I have the first two books in a series out so far. I'm planning on releasing the next one soon."

Foggy smiled and sat down beside me. "I remember you and Kate both loved books. Are you two still friends?"

"We sure are," I smiled fondly, thinking of my best friend. "She's actually my editor now."

"That's awesome!" Foggy seemed genuinely pleased by the news. "I remember her saying she wanted to either edit or publish."

"What company does she work for?" Karen asked. She was leaning on the front of her desk now.

"Oh, Kate doesn't work for a company." I said, placing my now empty coffee cup on the chair Foggy wasn't sitting on. "Well, she did for a while, but decided she would rather help out indie authors like myself. She runs a website for writers to apply for her editing service. And also interviews authors sometimes, and writes reviews. It's for anything book-related, really."

Before anyone could reply, my phone beeped. I quickly read the text.

 _Hey, you still on for brunch?_

I cursed quietly, thumbing in a quick reply. How could I have forgotten about this? I threw my phone back in my purse and stood hurriedly. "I'm so, so sorry, but I made plans to have brunch with Kate and completely forgot."

Foggy stood too. "Oh, no, that's fine. But we should really catch up properly soon."

"Well, duh." I laughed. I glanced at Matt and Karen. I didn't really get to talk to them much, but they seemed like fun people and I wanted to get to know them more. "What are you all doing tomorrow night?"

"Um, nothing." Karen said first. "I'm free."

"Me too," said Foggy, followed by Matt saying, "Same here."

"Okay, great!" I grinned like a maniac. I looked around quickly and spotted a notepad on Karen's desk, so I pointed to it. "Can I borrow that, and a pen?"

"Sure." Karen handed me the items, and I quickly scribbled down my address and phone number.

"Dinner at my place, tomorrow night at 6." I gave the notepad and pen back to Karen, then grabbed my purse. "Text or call me if you have any food preferences or allergies. I can cook just about anything."

"Sounds perfect!" Foggy gave me a big bear hug, which I happily returned. "I'm so glad I ran into you. Or you ran into me. Whatever, I'm just happy it happened."

"Me too, Foggy, me too." I made my way to Karen and gave her a hug as well. "Don't let him go crazy."

"I'll try not to," Karen laughed.

I turned to Matt. "Don't think you're getting out of a hug, either."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He gave me a charming smile and opened his arms. I took that as my cue to hug him.

Finally, I headed for the door, waving goodbye one last time. I was going to tell Kate who I ran into, and when I did, she was going to be in for a surprise.

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 **A/N: Yay, first chapter done! It's a bit short, I know, but next chapter you get to meet Kate, get to know Natalie a bit more, and after that will be the dinner! And there will be more interactions with Matt, I promise. This was definitely an intro chapter. Please let me know what you think! I hope the canon characters weren't too OOC or anything. I'll get the next chapter out ASAP.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry, I'd planned to update over a week ago but that obviously didn't happen. This chapter is a bit shorter.**

 **Anyway, on with the story!**

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 **02**

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The air was still a bit fresh outside, but I didn't mind so much now that I had caffeine in my system. It was actually lucky I'd run into Foggy when I did, because the café Kate always wanted to have brunch at was closer to Nelson & Murdock than my favorite café was.

I didn't know anyone else who wanted to eat brunch as early as Kate did. I mean, it was basically breakfast! Damn… I was going to need another coffee.

Making my way down the sidewalk, I was thankfully far more alert this time, so there was no chance of me running into any other old high school friends. I kept my head up as I manoeuvred my way through the crowed. Morning rush hour wasn't quite over yet.

Around a corner and there I was, at the trendy little café with overpriced coffee, fancy cakes, and a few tables outside for those wanting to bask in the morning sun. Kate was one of those people but I didn't mind. The brighter, the better.

"There you are!" Kate called out from her spot in the sun. She already had a coffee in front of her and was placing a worn paperback down next to it. "What took you so long?"

I slid into the seat across from her and dropped my bag down by my feet. "You'll never guess."

Kate's eyes narrowed at the challenge, before a knowing smile lit up her face. "Did you meet someone?"

"Actually, I did." Smirking, I leaned across the small table. "But it wasn't for the first time."

That stumped my friend for a moment. "Is he tall, dark, and handsome?"

"No, but his friend is. Well, I think he might be tall. I didn't really pay attention."

"Okay, do I know him?" Kate was leaning across the table now too, keen to know more.

I nodded. "You do."

A waitress chose that moment to arrive. "Hi, would you like to order now?"

"Sure." I smiled up at her. "I'd like a cappuccino, thanks. No sugar. Oh, and a slice of that salted caramel cheesecake."

"Okay." She scribbled it down on her notepad, before turning to Kate. "Another espresso and some banana cream pie?"

"You know it, Jamie." Kate laughed.

Jamie, the waitress, told us she wouldn't be long and headed off to give the barista our orders.

Kate instantly turned back to me. "Tell me who it is already."

I let a slow smile creepy onto my face. "Foggy."

"No. Way."

"Yes way."

"You ran into Foggy Nelson?!" Kate looked like she was about to exploded. "What? How? Where? _Here_?"

I laughed, before telling my friend about all that happened from the moment I'd run into him. Kate held onto my every word as if it were the very air she breathed. She didn't even interrupt me once, which is how I knew for sure she was interested.

"That's so surreal." Kate said once I'd finished telling my story. "I honestly can't believe that he's still here. I mean, I never expected him to do what his parents wanted him to, but I honestly thought he'd never come back after he left for college."

"Well, didn't we all?" Our coffee and cakes had arrived while I'd been telling my story, and I was trying not to devour the cheesecake. It might've been expensive, but it was damn good.

Kate nodded absently and played with a lock of her strawberry blond hair. Her mind had obviously wandered off; it did that at times. But then she turned to me with an excited grin. "So, tell me about his friend. Mr tall, dark, and handsome."

"There's not much to tell." I laughed. She already knew his name and that he's Foggy partner in crime – I told her during my story. I thought about Matt, looking for some more information to satisfy my best friend's interest. "Oh, he's blind!"

That was exactly what Kate needed. Her eyebrows flew up and she almost knocked her coffee over as she leaned across the table. "You have no idea how perfect that is!" She cried, grasping my hand in her own.

I rolled my eyes. "What? The fact he can't see?"

"No!" Kate sat back and huffed. "Well, yes. But not in the way you're thinking. Seriously. He's blind, you're going blind. It's perfect!"

"Where are you going with this?"

"You're oblivious." Now it was Kate's turn to roll her eyes. "Two attractive blind people find love. It'd be better than any rom-com."

She shrugged at my grimace.

"You know that would probably never work, right?" I asked, not sure if she understood that 'perfect' did not always mean 'practical'. "I have a hard enough time on my own now, and I can still see, so imagine if there was _two_ of us stumbling around. It'd never work."

"You're no fun." Kate pouted, finishing off her pie. She'd made me try it once and I hated it. It was the only dessert here that I didn't like.

"Well," I started. "I did want to talk to Matt about being blind."

"And why didn't you?"

I glared at her 'duh' expression. "Because A, I just met him, and B, I was already late for this." I gestured between us. "But I invited Foggy, him, and Karen over for dinner. I can ask him then."

"Can I come?" Kate's face lit up with excitement. "Screw Matt, I want to see Foggy again!"

"Sure," I laughed. "They're coming over tomorrow night at 6. But I might want you to come over a little earlier. Should I text you when?"

Kate slumped further down in her chair. "Don't bother. I have a date."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah," she sat up quickly, now excited again. "With Jacob. He asked me out last time I was here."

I looked towards the coffee machine inside the café, but didn't spot Jacob. "You mean the redhead you've been eyeing off the past few weeks? That Jacob?"

"The very one!" Kate blushed, which actually shocked me. She never, ever blushed over a guy. "He's not working today, unfortunately."

Then she started rambling on and on about him, and I relaxed back into my seat. Kate was so enthusiastic, it would be a crime not to listen to her long-winded stories. For a start, they were highly detailed and actually interesting.

And they were great writing material as well.

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~o0o~

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It was getting late, the sky darkening slightly as the sun slowly made its way to the horizon. I rubbed eyes from the glare of my laptop, and saved the document I'd been writing. Barely 200 words in an afternoon.

Getting up, I made my way around my apartment and turned every lamp on, before making me way to the couch. I fell back on it, half-sitting half-lying, feeling sorry for myself.

Why had I lost inspiration all of a sudden? This series had been my obsession since I'd first conceived the idea. Honestly, I was so in love with it for so many years. And this book was turning out to be the best of them all.

So why now?

I snapped up, realizing what was wrong, and ran back to my writing desk. I opened a fresh document and began typing away. The words flowed from my mind to the page with ease, coming naturally. It was a rare occurance.

What I was writing might hinder my series, but I had to get it out of me. It just demanded to be written.

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 **A/N: Sorry if this chapter has a lot of mistakes! There's minimal editing as I tried to get it out to you all ASAP.**

 **How did you like it? The faceclaim for Kate is Haley Bennett, if you want one. And I promise that the dinner with Foggy, Matt, and Karen will be next chapter.**


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